EAST LANSING — Every minute Nick Ward sat on Michigan State’s bench Tuesday night, he grew more and more distant. His body language, slumped and stoic, showed his frustration.

Finally, 12 minutes into the second half, Tom Izzo looked down his bench and summoned for his sophomore forward. He sprung to his feet and veered toward the scorer’s table.

Just 1 minute, 11 seconds later, Ward returned to the seat. Izzo kneeled in front of him. Ward’s armed flailed, passionately and frantically pleading his case. To no avail. His night was over.

Ward ended up with three points on 1 of 5 shooting and five rebounds in a career-low 11 minutes during the third-ranked Spartans’ 62-52 upset escape at Rutgers.

“He was kind of out of it. That’s happened to better players than Nick Ward, by the way,” Izzo said afterward. “So we’ll get him back. I’m not worried about it. He’s (had) a lot more good days. I just said to my staff, and to his family, that he’s had a great two weeks. So he had an average day."

With the score tied 26-26, Izzo did not start sophomores Ward and Cassius Winston to begin the second half, opting for seniors Tum Tum Nairn and Gavin Schilling. He said he and his staff “challenged them at halftime,” but neither Ward, an All-Big Ten honorable mention last year, nor Winston responded how he wanted them to respond. His reasoning was the same as it has been — poor defense between them on opponents’ high ball screens.

“(Ward) was rebounding it decent, we’re just back to not guarding the ball screens,” Izzo said. “Cash wasn’t getting over and he wasn’t guarding them. So we struggled on that and we had to find some guys.”

Winston did not check back into the game until more than seven minutes went by in the second half. Ward, meantime, sat sprawled on the bench for nearly 12 minutes before he returned. Schilling, junior Kenny Goins and freshman Xavier Tillman got the bulk of those minutes alongside Jaren Jackson Jr.

But Ward’s stint lasted just over a minute after a steal and a missed shot. He returned to the bench, where he and Izzo had an animated conversation as Ward sat in a chair.

During the next media timeout, Ward stood a few paces behind the team’s huddle, spending most of it staring up at the scoreboard. Assistant coach Dane Fife sat talking to ward for a while, but the forward slumped back in his chair for much of the game’s final 10 minutes. Ward, typically chirpy and intense, ignored his teammates.

“Usually, he’ll talk to us. He wasn’t talking to us,” fellow sophomore Miles Bridges said. “Everybody has those type of games. But it’s our job as his teammates to pick him up.”

Inside the Spartans’ locker room at Lewis Brown Activities Center, Ward — who was coming off a 22-point game against Nebraska — propped himself up against his stall. A reporter asked him questions. At first, his answers were brief and quiet.

Reporter: “Are you good?

Ward: “Yeah, I’m good."

Reporter: “For you, what was that second half like, just sitting and watching?”

Ward: “Terrible. I don’t like that. I don’t like to sit and watch a game that I want to be playing in. (I’m) a competitor. Knowing my worth. Knowing what I can do. Proving everything.”

Reporter: “What do you need to do to be on that court more?”

Just then, something sparked inside Ward. He leaned in and started to tighten his posture, his voice picking up its intensity. It was just like when Izzo approached him on the bench.

“You said what do I need to do?” he repeated, then uncoiled his body to sit upright. “I mean, if you look at it, let’s break it down. Can you guys name a big that killed me this year? Can you name a big that scored over eight points this year on me? Have I fouled out of any games?”

By this point, a few more reporters gathered. Another asked, “How frustrated are you right now?” And just before Ward’s emotions began to fully simmer again, Izzo stepped in and stopped it.

“All right, guys, I don’t normally do this, but he’s had a tough night,” Izzo said, patting Ward on the knee. “So you can ask him one or two more questions.”

Ward’s voice returned to a much more subdued tone. He said he planned to “just put it behind me.”

“I’m good now. I’m fine now. I’m in a better spot.”

And then he pulled up his headphones and hoodie, picked up his bag and walked out the door to MSU’s bus. Those were the only questions answered on a long day filled with many more remaining.